GBP - THB exchange rates

[BV70]

News of a decline in the euro and virtual crash of the rouble appears to have taken attention away from the declining value of sterling against the thai baht.

Sterling appears to be in free fall, declining from 55b/£ to around 48b today.

I'm no currency expert but I'm hoping for advice from anyone with a bit of knowledge of the exchange markets in regards to whether to hold on to the sterling I've brought into Thailand and wait for an improvement, or bite the bullet and cash in now.

[CharlieH]

Wrong forum

MOVED TO BANKING

[MJP]

49.83 spot of this moment.

Seems to be stabilising.

It does this from time to time.

I "did" Thailand when it was 75.75, so don't bother looking much these days.

[chiang mai]

What, GBP/THB in decline, who'd have thunk it!

[Cambodger]

It has fallen a bit. However most of the hit has come from the rising US dollar which the baht is pegged to.

[chiang mai]

It has fallen a bit. However most of the hit has come from the rising US dollar which the baht is pegged to.

THB is not pegged to any other currency.

[MJP]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

[Mister Fixit]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

And much worse for British ex-pats. I assume you don't actually live here ...?

[MJP]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

And much worse for British ex-pats. I assume you don't actually live here ...?

50/50, although the majority of my living costs are in LOS.

Exports will ultimately keep paying the pensions. See the big picture.

[i claudius]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

And much worse for British ex-pats. I assume you don't actually live here ...?

50/50, although the majority of my living costs are in LOS.

Exports will ultimately keep paying the pensions. See the big picture.

Yea right . in the meantime many pensioners here go without , you are a bright spark arnt you.

[MJP]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

And much worse for British ex-pats. I assume you don't actually live here ...?

50/50, although the majority of my living costs are in LOS.

Exports will ultimately keep paying the pensions. See the big picture.

Yea right . in the meantime many pensioners here go without , you are a bright spark arnt you.

Pensioners? At least you get pensions.

Without a functioning British economy you'll soon find the old pensh grinds to a halt.

A weaker Pound will help rebalance the UK economy away from BS to actually doing something of value, hence the pensions will keep getting paid.

Perhaps it was a bad idea to base your retirement abroad on a high value of the Pound? I've known quite a few "bright sparks" who did that.

Edited January 9, 2015 by MJP

[rgs2001uk]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

And much worse for British ex-pats. I assume you don't actually live here ...?

As one who lives here, I remember the days of 36/38 to the pound, anything over 40 is a bonus to me.

I will concede our Johnny come lately 75+ brigade may have screwed up.

From what I remember going back 20+ years, Thailand, was not, is not and will not be a place to retire for those of limited means.

As for someone who lives here, yeah I think its great, it means my next house in the UK will be cheaper in baht terms.

[rgs2001uk]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

And much worse for British ex-pats. I assume you don't actually live here ...?

50/50, although the majority of my living costs are in LOS.

Exports will ultimately keep paying the pensions. See the big picture.

Yea right . in the meantime many pensioners here go without , you are a bright spark arnt you.

Please tell me in what way are they going without, back in jolly old blighty, free healthcare and the pound is still worth a pound.

Or are you referring to the Bobs your uncle types who rawked up in Pattaya circa 1999/2000, the same ones who were heard saying its only Mickey Mouse money?

[MJP]

With the now low oil price I hope the Pound absolutely goes to the wall. Much better for British exports.

And much worse for British ex-pats. I assume you don't actually live here ...?

As one who lives here, I remember the days of 36/38 to the pound, anything over 40 is a bonus to me.

I will concede our Johnny come lately 75+ brigade may have screwed up.

From what I remember going back 20+ years, Thailand, was not, is not and will not be a place to retire for those of limited means.

As for someone who lives here, yeah I think its great, it means my next house in the UK will be cheaper in baht terms.

It's called reality, RG. That and a lesson in "the World does not owe me a living through currency hegemony".

[ExPratt]

Baht is doing ok , my money is mainly in Ringitt and they have gone from 9.9 baht for 1 Ringitt to 9.2 in about 3 months

[BigBadGeordie]

Baht is doing ok , my money is mainly in Ringitt and they have gone from 9.9 baht for 1 Ringitt to 9.2 in about 3 months

Well good for you, smug effer.

[i claudius]

For myself I have no problem. We have a home a car land and quite a bit of cash,but what of the poorer guy's who do not have our safety net,to the ones who want the pound to tank,shame on you

[el jefe]

For myself I have no problem. We have a home a car land and quite a bit of cash,but what of the poorer guy's who do not have our safety net,to the ones who want the pound to tank,shame on you

If they're living here and their savings are in baht, they'll do fine. if they have no savings, who's fault is that?

They can always go back "home" and live better there, right?

It's hard to feel sorry for people who never saw the need to save, thought they could take advantage of cheaper living costs elsewhere, and hoped that exchange rates would never go against them.

[i claudius]

Not all are financially savy, and never had a chance to save ,many if they lived in the UK would still end up cold and hungry in a bedsit,better here warm and able to eat hard to take money away from them don't ya think

[Suradit69]

For myself I have no problem. We have a home a car land and quite a bit of cash,but what of the poorer guy's who do not have our safety net,to the ones who want the pound to tank,shame on you

Yes, for those who were just barely making the Baht 65,000 a month (in Euros or GBP) to support their applications for annual extensions based on retirement, when they next apply they'll likely fall below that amount ... and of course aside from that, trips to the supermarket seem to be getting progressively more expensive in baht terms regardless of the benign official inflation reports.

Heard someone on CNBC predicting the Euro was heading for parity (again) with the US $, especially with concerns about the Greek exit and Germany's reluctance to prop everyone else up. These things tend to be cyclical, but they can still be devastatingly painful in the meantime.

High dollar rates generally are one of the downward pressures on gold prices, all the more so in dollar into baht into gold terms. Probably a good idea if you get dollar income to buy more, cheaper baht and use some of that to buy cheaper gold. When the dollar trends down again, gold MIGHT rise in both dollar and baht terms, so cashing out of gold MIGHT then be a nice hedge against a future lower dollar/baht exchange rate.

[Pib]

The Baht/Pound exchange rate over the last 4 years has been pretty flat plus or minus a few baht...take a look at below XE.com graph. People get too wrapped up in short term variations. And forgot about the days of over 70 baht to the pound...that was 10 years ago...the world changes.

[MJP]

For myself I have no problem. We have a home a car land and quite a bit of cash,but what of the poorer guy's who do not have our safety net,to the ones who want the pound to tank,shame on you

Do you not understand what some of us are saying?

If the British economy does not rebalance and start to trade in the black it will go bust at some point and there will be no pensions at all.

Part of that rebalancing is dependent on manufacturing industry export growth, which requires a weaker Pound to enable competitive advantage.

[rgs2001uk]

For myself I have no problem. We have a home a car land and quite a bit of cash,but what of the poorer guy's who do not have our safety net,to the ones who want the pound to tank,shame on you

Just as a matter of interest, as one who isnt anywhere near retirement age, how much are you paying each year for medical insurnance?

As for the poorer guys, do you mean the mugs paying their mai chao 75k baht per month to live with them, or do you mean those of us in normal relationships with wifes who work and contribute?

I want the pond to tank to boost my self made pension, I invest in UK properties, why shouldnt I want it to tank?

I wasnt daft enough to come here and rely on a 15 and a tanner pension from jolly old blighty, any occupational pensions I MAY get are viewed as nothing more than a bonus.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

For the poorer guys, buy a one way ticket back to blighty, not my family, not my problem.

Some of these old guys have a effin chip on their shoulder, called a sense of entitlement.

[SheungWan]

It is quite irrelevant what exchange rate people want as part of their venting pet economic theories. It makes no difference to the actual rate. With regards to the current decline from near 55, well yes we are approaching a 10% drop from that, but then it wasn't that long ago we were looking south from 44 so shortish term there can be volatility. Of course if GBPTHB lurches down further to 45 some people may find themselves in difficulty trying to cope. That is inevitable. Wishing a counter trend up or down is pointless.

[MJP]

[wooloomooloo]

No need, really.

[vento]

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Baht is doing ok , my money is mainly in Ringitt and they have gone from 9.9 baht for 1 Ringitt to 9.2 in about 3 months

Well good for you, smug effer.

I take it, you didnt understand what he was writing?

[BigBadGeordie]

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Baht is doing ok , my money is mainly in Ringitt and they have gone from 9.9 baht for 1 Ringitt to 9.2 in about 3 months

Well good for you, smug effer.

I take it, you didnt understand what he was writing?

Yup he has lost 70 satang per Ringit over a 3 month period. And your next point is?

[KittenKong]

It has fallen a bit. However most of the hit has come from the rising US dollar which the baht is pegged to.

THB is not pegged to any other currency.

Of course it's entirely coincidental that the THB happens to track the USD very closely, while other internationally traded major currencies go up and down against the USD like yo-yos.

[rickirs]

Convert your GBP into THB. As long as you use THB for domestically manufactured or grown products you'll not experience further depreciation. Unless you have serious connections, stay away from real estate.